Sand in an Hourglass
by magicskittles08
Summary: This is a story of war, a story of how love can make even the most hardened of hearts beat again...
1. Prologue

Hello my lovelies. This is my first story, so please review and be brutally honest. No Mr./Ms. Nice...Person.

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Co. But oi, lordy lord, I wish I did.

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War raged between the two lands. Wind and Fire ravaged the other until the last vestiges of hope withered from every soul. Every ninja, man, woman, and child, had seen the gruesome deaths of their comrades in arms. It appeared that no matter the victor, both sides would lose in the end. 

The wall, with the names of those fallen many, was full to brimming, as if the piece of stone hoped that once space ran out to honor the dead, the people would cease dying. Of course, this was in vain.

In spite of this all, the war eventually did draw to a close, the bloody river turning into a stream, then a trickle, then stopping altogether.

Of course, no one today remembers what caused the end, the downfall of the mighty Wind. Oh, there are speculations. The diplomatic would believe a treaty, an offering of peace to end the great losses both sides had suffered. The vicious claim a final battle, in which we massacred the Wind's forces. The conniving think perhaps the assassination of the Kazekage.

Perpetuating the myth, it seems, matters more to the people than seeking the truth. For who would believe that one girl could bring an entire nation to its very knees…

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Remember, honest people... 


	2. Chapter 1

Yay! Encouragement! Gotta love that. Thank you if you reviewed, you rock.

disclaimer: ah yes, the disclaimer. I do not own Naruto. sobs

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_Drip._

_Drip._

_Drip._

The room was deathly silent, except for the occasional thud of liquid landing on the stone floor. That infinitesimal sound reverberated through her ears like the banging of a kettledrum.

Salty tracks made their way down her cheeks, falling off her chin to join the pool on the floor. Red mixed with the transparency of her tears, transforming the small puddle of blood at her feet a murky pink.

She wanted to scream, to let loose a pain filled shriek loud enough to wake even those long dead, but her tongue felt as if it would never move again, would never dare to utter another word.

She felt her eyelids droop, felt her body giving in to the exhaustion her mind felt.

The door to her cell creaked open, its hinges sounding as though they had been made eons ago. Her jailor turned tormentor was silent, as usual. There were no taunts, no threats of what was to come. Of course, there was no need for these. She knew what was in store for her, knew how he would draw out every ounce of pain, take her body to its limits.

Knew that he would cease just before he crossed the line between torture and execution.

She tried to remove her mind from her body, take herself away from the pain, but in the end he would always bring her back.

What was he trying to accomplish? Did he want knowledge he knew she did not possess? Did he want to punish her for her crimes of war against _his_ country, _her_ enemy? Maybe he just wanted to break her, mind, body, and soul.

"Two days, three hours, and twenty-six minutes." His voice was smooth and calm, his body small and soft. His training over the years had obviously not required a fit body, only a keen mind. All the better to find your weakest point and exploit it, carefully, methodically.

_Two days. How could it have only been two days?_

"Do not worry, my cherry blossom. After the Kazekage realizes you are useless, your imprisonment shall end. You will find peace, little one."

Well, if that wasn't ominous, she didn't know what was.

"I would rather have you torture me indefinitely than die." her own voice a hoarse croak.

He looked at her, startled at the defiance that shone in her eyes. She had seemed so weak, so frail to him.

"Hm, maybe I underestimated you, little one."

There was a green fire in her eyes, lighting them up in the darkness.

"Maybe you did." Her last word was punctuated with the hard thrust of her fist, breaking through first skin, then sternum, then organs, and then finally popping out the other side.

Searching through his pockets, she found the keys to her cell, but no weapons. Glancing at the tray of torture devices, she picked up a few of the knives.

Slicing through their skin with the same items that had been used to slice through hers. That's just good old fashioned justice.

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Well, another chapter. And if you find any spelling errors, please tell me, cuz right now it's 11:30 and my brain died. 


	3. Chapter 2

Hello lovelies, it's me again. At least I would hope it's me. Some days, it's questionable…anyways, those who review make me want to write more, so thank you. And yes, my chapters are short, I know, but I'm new at this, so forgive me. Hopefully they'll get longer as I go. And I'm sure you don't want to hear me babble on moronically, so here are my last words:

(- - ) (- -) ( - -) dance, Kirby, dance!

disclaimer: I don't own anything. Including Kirby, dancing or otherwise. :..(

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The key fit into the well oiled lock and turned easily, as though it was newly installed on a very old door.

_Perhaps the Kazekage fears me more than he would like to let on._

Opening the door silently was not an option, so she went for surprise instead of stealth. Kicking the door open, the Kunoichi lunged into the dimly lit hallway, expecting a horde of attackers. The shadowed alcoves held no enemies; there was no one lurking around any corner.

_This makes no sense. There should be guards. Perhaps the Kazekage _did_ underestimate me._

And then she felt it. At first it was just a light dance across her instep, but it quickly spread. Sand began winding its way up her leg, almost a lover's caress…almost. Se could feel it tightening, fighting her attempts to break free. Firm, not painful. Not yet. It snaked up past her thighs, past her abdomen, lacing over her wrists.

All of a sudden she was jerked back, her bare shoulders slamming into the wall behind her with a bone jarring thud. The sand tightened, becoming shackles, holding her to the wall a few inches off the ground.

"Hello Sakura." His voice was distorted, no longer that of a human.

She could not look at him, could not look into those feral yellow eyes.

"Tch, tch, what, I don't even get a proper greeting?" With the last word, his sand yanked her foreword, bringing her to within an inch of him. His cool fingers traced patterns on her face, following the line of her lips, her cheekbones.

She wanted to spit in his face, but even she wasn't that stupid. Her vulnerability was obvious, and he knew it.

"Hello Shukaku." Demented laughter bubbled in his throat, making his eyes shine with cold humor.

"Hm, that's much better. You know, you should be proud of yourself. After all, most of Leaf's ninjas don't make it in this war for long. You've grown since the Forest of Death." His leer told her that he was referencing more than her fighting skills. "And how is your beloved Sasuke-kun? Last I heard he died with the rest of Sound. Would you happen to know if that was true?"

Of course he would have to bring those memories back. The final battle between Sound and Leaf, in which Sakura had to kill the man she had once loved with every bit of her being. Sasuke was the enemy, and she did her duty to her village. It took its toll on her then 16 year old self, and she withdrew from those around her, becoming a recluse. The missions she requested became more and more dangerous, as if she were just waiting to be killed.

It never happened. She just became better and better at what she did. Every time she came back from a successful mission, one could see the sadness in her eyes, instead of the victory that should have been there.

Then of course, there was the death of Orochimaru, which should have brought peace to the villages. But it seems that humans are unable to live in harmony, without conflict. About 2 years after the fall of Sound, Gaara, then the Kazekage, lost control of the beast inside him. Shukaku was set free, and he came with a vengeance, demanding blood and war.

For the past year, it was constant bloodshed. Leaf had not had time to properly recover, their losses had been so great. With another war at the heels of the last, they had scrambled to get the forces needed to fend off their new attackers. One by one, their best and brightest had been picked off. Leaf began sending out younger ninjas, hoping that quantity would make up for quality. They had been mowed down.

Leaf's last hope was to strategically kill off all of Sand's top officials: ANBU captains, advisors, and the Kazekage himself. Killing Shukaku had been Sakura's mission, the first she had failed since the death of her childhood crush.

"Oh, yes, _you_ were the one to kill him, isn't that right? How did you do it? A swift decapitation with a katana? Or was it slow, drawn out…_painful_?"

Her face contorted at the images her mind brought forth. Sasuke, coming at her, kunai in hand, flinging shuriken at her left and right. A long battle between them. Both of them, bleeding and wounded. Sasuke unconscious on the ground.

She remembered crawling over to him on her elbows, her legs too damaged to use. She remembered barely having the strength to lift the kunai because he had severed some muscles in her arms.

She remembered slicing his neck shallowly, inadvertently making his death long in coming. And then, merciful darkness.

This demon knew her weaknesses, knew what buttons to push to make her hurt. It was a thousand times worse than what had happened in that cell, because he knew her deepest fear too.

"If only you had tried harder, if only he had loved _you_, Sakura."

"He was too in love with his idea of revenge. I get that now."

"Oh, do you? Then why does it hurt you so much to hear me say that?" It was true. No matter what she said, it still hurt her.

Sakura realized something at that moment. She didn't want to kill Gaara. She wanted to punish the monster inside of him. She wanted to do to him what he most feared: put him back in his cage. _That_ would be the ultimate revenge.

Perhaps she was more like Sasuke than she thought.

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Eek! Another one! It's like an infestation of chapters! Ok, maybe not, but it _is_ another one. And it's longer! Once again, if there are any mistakes, tell me. I will fix it.


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